


The Art of Ignoring Lies

by qwanderer



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Gen, Snarky Tony, Spoilers for Agents of SHIELD, Spoilers for CA:TWS, Up all night to get Bucky, What am I doing, character list is starting to get out of hand, more tags as the story develops
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-04
Updated: 2014-05-05
Packaged: 2018-01-21 20:27:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1562975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/qwanderer/pseuds/qwanderer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve is on a mission to find Bucky Barnes. At first, he's only got Sam to help him. But things like this can never be simple. More and more people get involved, and more and more complications arise. But most days, that's just what being an Avenger means. Dealing with the stuff that no one else is prepared to deal with.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Coulson is Dead

**Author's Note:**

> Apologies, this is permanently incomplete. It used to be part of both the Hear Me series and my triplefitzsimmons series, but then it became clear that it was both hopelessly complex and hopelessly jossed.

Sam's help was a great thing to have - he was a friend who really got some of Steve's issues, and the kinds of help he needed getting oriented to the 21st century. But Sam was also a man who knew his own limits. 

"Man," Sam had told him, "I'll do what I can to help you find your friend. But it doesn't seem like it's gonna be that easy. Now, I know for a fact that you have connections in the twenty-first century outside of SHIELD an' me. It might be about time you called 'em in." 

"Not really," Steve said, shaking his head. "Pretty much everyone else I know, I met through SHIELD." 

"And that is its own can of worms I don't particularly want to deal with right now, but just because SHIELD's gone doesn't mean they are. Doesn't mean they suddenly have no resources. Come on, man, you've fought next to Tony Stark. That's gotta be worth something." 

Steve frowned. "Yeah, but the guy kind of hates my guts, and I don't really blame him. For a while in there, we tried pulling together as a team, he had his whole tower rebuilt as a headquarters for us. But we were always butting heads. Banner and Rhodes work better with him, they actually get along. But the rest of us just... drifted away, to other work." 

"So? Give it a try. What could it hurt? You really wanna find your friend, right? He's probably your best chance." 

"Yeah," said Steve. "Yeah, you're probably right." 

* * *

Steve was actually surprised to find that, not only did no one stop him in the lobby, but his thumbprint still allowed him to access the private elevator to the Avengers levels. 

"Good afternoon, Captain Rogers, Mr. Wilson, and welcome to Avengers Tower. Shall I inform Mr. Stark of your arrival?" 

Steve cleared his throat. "Uh, yeah, if it's not too much trouble. If he's busy, we can come back." 

"Mr. Stark is currently in Avengers command central, and, if I may say so, is in great need of distraction. He is still in recovery from open heart surgery and has been pushing the limits of advisable amounts of activity. Please, do interrupt." 

" _Open heart surgery?!?_ " Steve's eyes boggled, darting from corner to corner of the elevator's ceiling. 

"Indeed. The arc reactor has, at long last, been rendered unnecessary and removed. Once his recovery is complete, Sir will be in better health than he has been in... quite some time." 

Steve nodded, although he wasn't yet done being shocked. "It's gone? He doesn't need it anymore? What about the suits?" 

"The shrapnel has been removed and the reactor replaced with a more standard internal pacemaker. As for the suits, all those currently in service have been designed to fly independently or with a passenger other than Mr. Stark, and therefore have external mounting ports for their arc reactors." 

"Guy's gotta be tough," Sam said. "Injury like that, lots of trauma from what I've heard, an' he just keeps fighting, keeps flying. How long's it been since the surgery?" 

Steve listened closely. He knew this was Sam's area, trauma and injury, and that he knew a lot more about modern medicine and recovery than Steve did just yet. 

"Four weeks. The incisions have closed, but the sternum and ribs have not yet healed around the replacement structures implanted during the procedure." 

"So light activity, changing postures regularly?" Sam asked. 

"Ideally, yes," Jarvis agreed extremely dryly. 

Steve had to chuckle. "All right, J, I'll do what I can. After all, I am here to ask for a favor." 

"I had suspected as much," Jarvis told him. 

The elevator opened on the Avengers command floor, which was more or less as Steve remembered it, except there was more noise and activity going on in the direction of the offices and control boards, rather than the conference room, where the team had been accustomed to gathering. The conference room, all glass and shining surfaces, stood empty, as if waiting. 

Tony came around the corner from the offices jut as Steve was considering asking Jarvis which way to go. 

"Hey! Cap came back and he brought a friend! Anybody who fights next to Steve is welcome here. Saw you in action in D.C. Nice hardware, one of the old EXO-7's, right? Little limited on the protection, though. Kinda surprised to see you still in one piece. But you rocked the thing, looks like you know its capabilities pretty well?" 

Steve was taken aback by Tony's grinning, effusive welcome, and once more, disoriented by the avalanche of words and ideas flowing over him. Steve had forgotten the effect that had on him, and the way the two of them not getting along had so much to do with that disorientation, rather than Tony not liking him. For Steve, Tony was really an absence-makes-the-heart-grow-fonder kind of friend. 

Sam seemed to be taking it in stride, though. They chatted about the Falcon pack for a while, Tony agreeing to build him another and provide him with custom body armor to go with. Then Sam seemed to remember the whole 'open heart surgery' thing, and started walking in the direction of the conference table. Tony seemed to follow without conscious thought, sitting down when his conversational partner did. 

Steve smiled, and then sighed internally. It was starting to seem like everyone else could handle Tony better than he could. 

"You know what, that would be great," Sam was saying. "I have a feeling I'm going to be hero-ing around a lot more often now that Steve here has dragged me into the whole thing. But that's not the reason why we're here." And he looked expectantly at Steve, who was still standing. 

Steve sat, kind of nervously, under the eyes of a Tony who'd apparently just remembered he was here and was now attempting to dissect him visually to figure out why. 

"I'm looking for someone," Steve began, figuring out how to say at least that much. 

Tony put on a pleased little smile. "So you've come to the all-knowing Tony Stark, is that it? Forced to acknowledge my greatness?" He folded his hands in front of him in a way uncharacteristic of him, obviously meaning to reference or call to mind something else. "Yes, yes, you must be determined, to come all the way up to the top of the mountain to seek answers from the master. What wisdom may I bestow?" He bowed his head slightly. 

Steve didn't get much out of it except that he was being teased. "Put a sock in it, Tony," he said. "I don't have the patience today. This is serious." 

Tony deflated slightly. Then he shook out his hands to prepare for their use, channeling energy into the matter at hand. "OK, to business. Tell me who you're looking for." Tony pulled up a search interface on the surface of the conference table, then gave his attention to Steve. 

"Uh. Bucky Barnes?" he began. "I know he was believed dead even before I was, but the assassin that Hydra sent after me, the guy in the mask? That was him. They've done something to him. Well, a lot of somethings. He didn't know who he was at first. But by the end, I think he recognized me. And I need to find him. I need to at least try to bring him in." 

Tony nodded, fingers and eyes darting across the table, showing no sign of discomfort at Steve's intention to track down and befriend a guy who'd been programmed to kill him. "Guy with the metal arm, right? That might help, but I've got no background, no specs. Basically? There are problems here. One: I am a genius at finding out information, but _Hydra._ If they'd kept digital records, you know, insecure at all, I'd have found them by now. Probably in the Helicarrier hack. Even though that cell was based in shady Russian government organizations; SHIELD was keeping its creepy little eye on _everyone_. Two: finding and bringing in the tough nuts is not my specialty. We need Coulson. Oi! Maria! You know how to find Phil?" 

Maria Hill stalked around the corner from the offices to glare at Tony. "I'd prefer it if you'd call me Hill." 

"I know, right, it was weird for me too. Think I just gave myself a flashback of my parents." He cringed and shook his head. "Don't think you'll have to worry about that happening again." 

"And Coulson's dead." 

"Nope!" Tony denied cheerfully. 

Steve shook his head. "Stark, that's not how things work. Things don't just magically un-happen because you'd like them to." 

Tony gave him a widening of the eyes and a spread of his hands that said 'yes, and?' He scrunched his face at Steve. "That was you, back on Helicarrier Mark One, right? With Fury, and the hacking, and the weapons? You have memories of this?" 

"Yeah?" Steve said, slightly bewildered. 

"And we're still. Really? With the believing-things-Fury-says?" 

Steve's face did a sort of resigned, guilty, sad thing, but didn't actually answer, so Tony continued. 

"Anyway, it all came out in Natasha's little broadcast of all SHIELD's remaining dark secrets. Jarv sent that fact with the first scan results of the database dump. So no, Miss Hill, there's no reason to keep lying to me. I know Santa isn't real. You just gotta tell me where the presents are stashed away." 

"So you're saying that you suspected from the beginning that Fury was just trying to manipulate you?" Hill asked. 

Tony's answer was a snort, loud and sudden, a disbelieving look and a smattering of dry giggles. "You kidding right now? Water is wet, Steve is righteous, the atomic weight of platinum is 195.084 u, and Nick Fury is a manipulative asshole. This is why I ignore pretty much everything he says." 

"That does explain a few things," Hill replied, quirking an eyebrow at Tony. 

"But hey, we're wasting time. Steve wants to do a thing, and, as previously determined, Steve is righteous, so, if you'd like to fill me in on where our dear undead Agent Agent can be reached...?" 

Hill stared him down for a moment, and then she sighed. "Fine. I'll send him a message. But he might be to busy to indulge your little games right now. He's still fighting for SHIELD's good name and there are a lot of loose ends to tie up." 

"Not ME!" Tony objected, rolling his eyes. "Again. STEVE." He thrust both hands at Cap as if displaying the obvious shine of his righteousness. 

Steve looked at her hopefully. 

Hill bit her lip, considering, then nodded. "Yep," she said. "That could do it." She nodded briskly, and left to make her call. 


	2. Natasha Doesn't Make Friends

The conference room started to fill up, and it was feeling pretty much like the old days. Bruce slunk in and started talking quietly to Tony about things far beyond Steve's understanding. Natasha stalked silently, narrowing her eyes and glaring at everybody until she had their attention. 

"Jarvis just told me that Phil Coulson is alive and well and on his way here. Which of you knew and didn't think it was necessary to tell me?" 

Tony raised his hand with a shrug, Maria with impassivity. "I just found out," Steve said, lifting his hands in a pacifying gesture. 

Bruce looked awkward. "I suspected. I thought most people did. It kind of follows. SHIELD being SHIELD." 

"I know, right, how can you _not realize -_ " Tony's words cut off abruptly as Natasha approached him, the promise of bloody violence in her eyes. "Okay, okay, maybe shoulda said something." 

Rhodey arrived next - he'd been around a lot since Tony's surgery, and they were all hands on deck now, apparently, even if it was just curiosity bringing people out of the woodwork - and even Pepper showed, probably to make sure Tony didn't get carried away with the heroing. 

Then there was the muffled hum of a small VTOL jet touching down on the landing pad. It was a few minutes before Coulson entered, his new team filing in behind him. 

He was met with a welcome and a hug from Pepper, which he received with a smile, and a "Thank you for coming" and another hug from Steve, which made him blush slightly. 

Tony was next in line, and he grinned and said, "Hey, want to compare heart surgery scars?" which made Phil roll his eyes, but he couldn't suppress a smile as well. 

Nat hit him very carefully on the shoulder and said, "You should have told me you weren't dead," which was so over-the-top for her that it almost had him tearing up. 

"So tell me about this thing you need my help with," he said, addressing Steve. 

"Well," said Steve, "you know about Bucky, right? I mean, he's got his own section of the Captain America exhibit at the Smithsonian, so...." 

"Yes, I'm familiar," Phil said with a slightly self-deprecating smile. 

"What about the Winter Soldier?" 

Phil's eyes went to Natasha, widening. 

"Oh, we had lots of interesting adventures," Nat told him. "Would've filled you in already if you had, I don't know, maybe dropped me a line?" 

"I'm sorry, Natasha. Now will have to do." 

"The Winter Soldier is Bucky Barnes, who was taken by the branch of Hydra which then embedded itself in the НКВД. He was given enhancements including a replacement arm, wiped and reprogrammed, and kept in cryostasis when he wasn't out doing their dirty work." She sighed. "Phil, he did show some signs of remembering Steve, but he's pretty far gone. No question that he's dangerous. Try not to let hero worship affect your judgement here." 

"Well, it looks like I'm going to have help in that department," he said, looking around the crowded room. "But I don't see Barton. I'd like to have his eyes on this. He's usually right about these calls." 

"It would be nice, wouldn't it?" Natasha said, her eyes still showing blame for abandoning them. "Unfortunately, he went off grid before SHIELD went down, and I can't find him." 

For the first time, Phil felt as if some of that blame might be really well deserved. 

"You." Phil's face looked pinched. " _You_ can't find _Barton?_ " 

Nat's face was uncharacterisically expressive as she glared at Coulson. "Everything's been falling apart, Phil. I had things to deal with. He was undercover checking out rumors of work on old Hydra experiments being continued. Which, in retrospect, was likely more serious than we gave it credit for. None of my contacts - and none of his old contacts I've caught info on over the years - know anything. I came back here to go through his stuff and look for clues, see if he was planning anything, but... nothing. He's gone." 

Phil closed his eyes and sighed deeply. Then he looked at Steve. "I'm sorry, Captain, but this takes a much higher priority for me, personally. And as I'm not currently under orders to help you, I'm going to find Barton first. We need him on this, anyway." 

"No, I mean, that makes sense," Steve answered, looking worried. "I didn't realize Clint was missing. He's my friend, he's my team, and I owe Natasha a lot right now, so... Hawkeye first. Then the Winter Soldier." 

"Good," said Phil. "Is everybody on board with this change in objectives?" 

An Avenger was missing. No one here was going to object to moving that to priority one. 

Phil nodded, and continued. "Okay, if we're going to be running a martial operation, we're going to need a chain of command. Since I've been called in for my record in heading similar ops, I'm going to assume that's what I'm here for and I'm going to ask all of you to follow my orders for the duration." 

Maria cleared her throat. "I'm not sure if that's the best option...." 

" _Miss_ Hill," Coulson addressed her, emphasizing her renunciation of the title of Agent. "Is this, or is this not, an operation falling under the umbrella of Stark security?" 

She looked slightly uncomfortable. "Technically? No." 

"Then you are not my superior. I am running an operation. Will the resources of Stark security be made available to me?" 

Hill looked at Stark. Tony gave her a thumbs-up and continued to watch as if this were a particularly interesting stage play. 

"Yes," she said, voice grating a little. "Sir." 

"Then you'll be directly under me here, at Avengers HQ. You know Stark's personnel here. May, you coordinate the Bus contingent. Rogers, Avengers and Airmen. That clear? Point at the person you'll be taking orders from." 

He watched, satisfied, as his team pointed at Melinda, and Natasha, Bruce, Rhodey and Sam pointed at Steve, and Pepper and Tony pointed at Maria. He gave a special nod to Tony for realizing that he was going to be more use as a member of SI than as an Avenger. But Iron Man was still in the fight, a few times over, as indicated by Jarvis producing several holographic gauntlets and pointing them at Steve (and a small arrow, which he pointed at Tony. That was fine by Coulson; there were some dynamics that could not and should not be broken). 

Hill regarded Tony's pointing finger with a certain amount of suspicion, but everyone else seemed content with the way things were arranged. 

"Good. Now, most of you have specialized knowledge bases as well as fighting skills. While we're still in the planning and information gathering phase, Jarvis will be coordinating everyone's tasks, and reporting to me. Let's get started." 

So planning commenced, people grouping by specialty to update each other. Banner, Simmons and Triplett conferred, filling each other in on the medical needs of the team members they knew. May, Rogers and Romanov did the same with fighting abilities. 

"Now I know Coulson knows the value of a good sniper," Natasha was saying to Melinda. "No one with that skill set on your team?" 

May gave Nat a dark look. "Bad luck with snipers recently. Ward was Hydra." 

Natasha spat a few choice Russian expletives through her teeth. Something about Hydra ruining everything good she'd ever had. 

"We're going to find Barton," May reassured. "He'll be fine. We'll get him back." 

Nat frowned questioningly at her. "When did you become such an optimist?" 

May pressed her lips together as she thought. "Phil's been... different, since he came back to work. Some of it worries me. The rest... it kind of seems like he's going over all his reasons to keep living, and appreciating them. And... it's been rubbing off on me, I guess." 

Natasha's mouth quirked just slightly. "He does do the impossible on a regular basis, doesn't he? Even inspires me occasionally." 

"It'll be good to be working with him again," Steve agreed. "He seems like a good man." 

"The best," Natasha agreed. 


End file.
